Dolphins won't be outbid financially for Fisher

The Dolphins are prepared to make Jeff Fisher the best financial offer of any team vying for the coach this winter, an NFL source told the Miami Herald and a source close to owner Stephen Ross confirmed.

Ross is not eager to overpay to land Fisher or anyone else as he searches for a head coach. But the Dolphins owner is willing to best any offer that might come from St. Louis or Tampa Bay or any other team wanting to hire the former Tennessee Titans coach. Fisher is the most accomplished coach on the Dolphins' radar.

And the Dolphins are intent on not being outbid financially for Fisher.

Ross has the deep pockets necessary to pay what he must to hire Fisher and he apparently does not want to be seen as incapable of landing the most prized coach on the market -- at least not as a result of being outbid.

The NFL source said Fisher understands the Dolphins are prepared to outbid all other teams. But he has other concerns, such as the team's structure, that he must overcome before deciding if he wants to work in Miami or not.

Other teams may be able to more fully satisfy Fisher in offering him the kind of structure he is more comfortable with and that may tilt his decision away from Miami. But money talks and it's only a matter of how much Fisher is willing to listen.

"If Jeff wants the money, if that is more important to him, then the Dolphins have a good chance," the source said. "But if money is secondary and he's more concerned with structure or other cards on the table, he'll end up somewhere else."

So basically the Dolphins are trying to use their ability to pay more as a way of overcoming what is seen in some circles as issues Fisher isn't completely comfortable with.